TURNING
POINT: LSU's offense had dominated the first quarter, but
on a third-down play, Tigers quarterback Zach Mettenberger was sacked and
fumbled the ball. Auburn recovered and scored three plays later to pull within
9-7, giving the home team a needed boost and putting the LSU offense on its heels
the rest of the night.

KEY
STATS: Mettenberger never completed more than two
consecutive passes in the second half and was 5-for-14 passing through the air
in the final 30 minutes.

Chris Granger/Times-PicayuneLSU tailback Spencer Ware played a key role in the Tigers' 12-10 victory with 90 yards rushing and two catches for 43 yards.

OFFENSIVE
PLAYER OF THE GAME: RB Spencer Ware re-emerged as a go-to
back with 16 carries for 90 yards rushing and a pair of receptions for 44
yards. He accounted for three of LSU's four biggest plays of the night with
rushing bursts of 28 and 30 yards and a key 33-yard catch-and-run late in the
game that allowed the Tigers to gobble up all but the final 39 seconds of the
clock.

DEFENSIVE
PLAYER OF THE GAME: DE Sam Montgomery dominated the line of
scrimmage with four tackles, all for loss, for -14 yards. Montgomery was a
major reason why LSU stifled Auburn's running attack to 86 yards on 30
attempts.

SPECIAL
TEAMS PLAYER OF THE GAME: WR Russell Shepard made a tackle
that may have saved the victory for the Tigers. Right after Drew Alleman kicked
LSU back into the lead with a 12-10 lead, Auburn's Onterrio McCalebb grabbed
the ensuing kickoff at the goal line and found daylight down the left sideline
for 43 yards before Shepard dragged him down. AU lost the ball on an
interception and the rest of the game was a battle for field position.

THE
GOOD

1. First two offensive drives
were as methodical and dominant as the Tigers have pieced together all season.

2. Defensively, LSU was
suffocating and minus a short-field touchdown drive barely budged the entire
game, allowing only 183 total yards and nine first downs. The Tigers racked up
14 tackles for loss and forced 3 turnovers.

Associated PressLSU defensive end Sam Montgomery terrorized the Auburn offensive line Saturday and finished with 3 1/2 tackles for loss.

3. Ware stepped in for the
injured Alfred Blue and showed that LSU won't miss a beat with his best game
since before sitting out last year's Auburn game. Michael Ford also ran
effectively early.

4. Junior wide receiver Kadron Boone continued
to emerge as a reliable receiver with three catches for 49 yards.

THE
BAD

1. As stifling as the
defense was, LSU was gouged for four plays of 20 yards or longer, including two
on the ground. One set up Auburn's lone touchdown and came after a sudden
change.

2. Mettenberger looked
uncomfortable most of the last three quarters, especially when plays called for
him to move in the pocket and try to find receivers. He badly missed on several
throws.

3. LSU's receivers didn't
help Mettenberger at times, with Odell Beckham Jr. dropping a deep ball, James
Wright letting a slant clang off his hands and Shepard losing a one-on-one
battle on a 50-50 ball in the end zone.

THE
UGLY

1. Two fumbles cut deeply:
One when backup center Elliott Porter appeared to fire a shotgun snap to
Mettenberger who was under center costing the Tigers a chance for points and
the second when Mettenberger coughed the ball up on a sack.

2. After Mettenberger's
second giveaway, the LSU coaches pulled back the reins on the game plan,
rendering the Tigers very predictable and not very effective.

3. The offensive line
experiment was a struggle, with Josh Dworaczyk struggling mightily against AU
defensive end Corey Lemonier.

LSUSPorts.netKadron Boone

HELMET
STICKERS

RB Michael Ford: 8
carries for 41 rushing yards

WR Kadron Boone: 3
catches for 49 yards

P Brad Wing: 8 punts
for 42.2-yard average, despite a career-worst 20-yarder. Played a big role in a
field-position game.

FS Eric Reid: Team-high
7 tackles, 1 TFL

DT Anthony Johnson: 3
tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack

DB Micah Eugene: 3
tackles, 2 sacks

LB Luke Muncie: Snared the first interception of his career.

QUOTE
OF NOTE

"I feel like being in
such a close game that we showed everyone that we can pull through at the end
and come together as a team and work hard. But it also shows us that we need to
be humble and continue to improve."

LSU
linebacker Luke Muncie

UP
NEXT: The Tigers step out of SEC play for their final
non-conference game when FCS foe Towson visits Baton Rouge for a 6 p.m.
kickoff.